A NaruSaku Christmas
by Darkened Lover
Summary: Konoha's Christmas party marks Darkened Lover's return! The holidays aren't stopped even by the war that rages in the shinobi world, Naruto and friends are holding a party to celebrate and enjoy the holidays together. BTW It's kinda short.


Konoha Christmas

Even as the threat of war looms over the world, the citizens of Konoha do their best to enjoy the holidays. People rush around, buying gifts for their loved ones this Christmas. Naruto is no exception.

Naruto yawned as he strode along the street, a sack from the Konoha Book Store in hand. "Crap," he murmured, "I still need to get gifts for Iruka-sensei, Captain Yamato, Sai, and... Sakura-chan." He blushed and grinned as he said the last name.

"Hey," a voice emerged from behind him. Naruto turned his head and saw Shikamaru coming up behind him. "How's it going?" Shikamaru asked.

"Good!" Naruto answered. "Just doing some Christmas shopping!" he told him.

"Same here. It's troublesome, but my mom will nag my ears off if I don't get her anything. So will Tem—" he stopped and blushed.

Naruto chuckled, grinning wildly. "So, you and Temari, huh?" Shikamaru nodded awkwardly. "Good for you! You two gonna be at the party together?"

"Yeah, she's coming in for Christmas." Shikamaru answered.

They were talking, of course, about the Christmas eve party that the Konoha 11 had planned together. They were holding it in the Hokage's mansion, thanks to Tsunade's generous Christmas spirit. Naruto had hoped Sakura would be his date for the party, but was too nervous to ask her.

"You going with Sakura?" Shikamaru asked.

"Oh, no!" Naruto replied, shaking his hands in front of him in a dismissive manner. "I mean, we're just friends y'know!"

"You don't have the nerve, do you?" Shikamaru said with a smirk.

Naruto sighed, looking ashamed. "No..." he replied.

"You shouldn't be nervous, she'll probably say yes. I mean, she'll probably think of it as a date among two friends." Shikamaru said.

"Maybe..." Naruto grumbled.

As if on cue, Sakura came down the street, waving at the two. "Hi guys!" she called.

"Oh, hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto replied.

"Naruto, have you bought a present for me yet?" she asked teasingly. "I already have yours."

"Not yet," Naruto admitted, "I'm actually on my way right now! I only have Kakashi-sensei's present so far."

"You do your shopping at the last minute, huh?" she asked, "Christmas eve is tomorrow."

"Well, yeah..."

"He's not the only one," Shikamaru butted in, "I just finished up. I know for a fact Choji just started his this morning too."

"Well, get me something nice, Naruto-kun." she said with a wink. "I need to get going, see you later!" With that she continued on down the road.

"Wait..." Naruto said, turning a bright red. "Did she just call me Naruto... kun?"

Shikamaru patted the knucklehead on the back. "That's so her way of saying she wants to go with you." he told him. "If I'm wrong, I'll give you my life savings."

Meanwhile, things weren't so cheery over enemy lines. Sasuke was sitting alone in a dark room, his eyes were just about ready. He could see now, not as perfectly as he'd like, but the process was almost done. Soon he'd be at full power, his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan at his fingertips. The door opened, Madara stepping in.

"What do you want," Sasuke said coldly. A pretty warm greeting... for him.

"Just checking in on you, that's all." Madara replied. "How is your vision?"

Sasuke didn't seem like he would answer at first, but he finally said, "It's getting there. Still a little blurry."

"Excellent." Madara muttered. "I'll leave you then." He began to turn. "Consider it, my Christmas present to you."

Sasuke scoffed. "Christmas is a waste of time, don't expect me to get you anything."

Madara chuckled darkly. "I had no such expectations, I assure you."

Naruto stepped into the Ichiraku Ramen Shop, sitting next to Iruka. "So," Iruka began, "how'd your shopping go? Get it all done?"

"Well... mostly," Naruto said. "I couldn't find the right gift to give Sakura-chan."

"What'll you two have? The usual?" Teuchi asked.

"Yes, the usual." Iruka answered. "How come?" he asked Naruto.

"Well... I wanted to get her something special, but I don't know what to get. I mean, I don't really know what girls like!" Naruto admitted.

Iruka laughed. "How about jewelry? Or perfume?" he suggested.

"I can't get her jewelry!" Naruto replied. "Then it'd look like I was saying, 'Hey I got you this expensive necklace, I want you to be my girlfriend!"

Iruka paused, then said, "Isn't that what you want to say?"

Naruto sighed, nodding silently. "Still... she probably wouldn't react like I want her to."

"You never know, she just might." Iruka said.

"Whatever, let's just eat ramen!" Naruto grumbled.

"Naruto!" Sai stepped into the ramen shop, sitting beside Naruto. "I am excited about the party tomorrow, I have never been to one before. In fact... I have never even celebrated Christmas."

Naruto and Iruka shared a face of surprise. "NEVER?" Naruto repeated.

"No, never." Sai answered shaking his head.

"You've been missing out!" Naruto told him. "It's the best time of the year! You get to get presents for all of your friends, and eat great food, plus it's an awesome time to just hang out with the people you love and just relax!"

"The people we love? Like Sakura?" Sai asked.

Naruto broke his eye contact with Sai. "Yeah..." he replied, adding, "and Kakashi-sensei, and Captain Yamato... our friends."

"Our... friends?" Sai repeated, a weird look on his face. It shifted into a proud grin. "I can't wait!"

Then, it was Christmas Eve. The party was in a few hours. Naruto had contemplated millions of gift ideas for Sakura, but couldn't make a decision. Finally, however, he got her something. Now, he was wandering the streets, looking for someone. Snow blanketed the streets of Konoha, icicles hanging from any edge they could. It was truly a winter wonderland.

Then he saw her, Sakura stepping out of her house. She looked as beautiful as ever. Naruto was nervous, he wanted to ask her to be his date, but he couldn't. Just as he was about to turn, to nervous to talk to her, she called out his name. "Naruto!"

"Oh, hey, Sakura-chan, I didn't see you there!" Naruto replied, his face turning a pink color.

"You look like you've been out in the cold for a while, you're a little pink." she indicated.

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Naruto said. "So, Sakura-chan, I was thinking that since we are both going to the party and your house is on the way to the party from my house we could go to the party together." After blurting that out, Naruto wanted to facepalm himself. He had said "party" like a million times!

Sakura grinned. "Sure, why not." she answered. "It'll be nice to walk to the party with a friend."

_Of course, _Naruto thought, _she didn't even realize I just asked her out. She just assumes I meant we could walk together as friends_. "Cool," Naruto said, trying to keep his disappointment out of his voice.

So, they walked to the party together, and arrived as the first ones there aside from Tsunade and Shizune.

"Hey there you two." Tsunade said. "Since your having your little party in my mansion, I invited myself and Shizune, hope you don't mind."

"It's no problem ma'am." Sakura assured her.

"Good," the Hokage replied. Tsunade pulled out some mistletoe with a grin, holding it over Naruto's head. "Mistletoe, looks like you owe me a kiss," she said.

"Bleh, why would I wanna kiss from an old lady like you, y'know!" he joked, but allowed her to kiss his cheek anyway.

"Watch it kid, I'm not so old I can't toss you around a little if you get me mad." Tsunade replied.

"Come on milady, he's only kidding, let's not ruin everyone's Christmas." Shizune pleaded.

"I know, I know." Tsunade replied.

Then the door opened as Kiba, Hinata, and Shino stepped in, each holding a few gifts. Kiba stepped up to Naruto, saying, "You and Sakura on a date?"

Naruto and Sakura turned red. "No," Naruto said, knowing Sakura wouldn't think of it as one. And yet:

"Yes." Sakura had said simultaneously. Naruto stared at her. "Oh, was it not a date?" she asked, looking embarrassed.

"Well, I mean..." Naruto didn't know what to say. He had wanted it to be a date, but assumed Sakura didn't. "Yeah," he decided, "yeah it is!"

Sakura grinned at that, saying, "After all, friends can go on dates, can't they?"

"_Friends can go on dates"? WHAT? COME ON!_ he thought furiously.

So the night progressed, people arrived one after another, soon the party was in full attendance. All of the Konoha 11 was here, plus Sai, and Temari.

"Hey, Temari!" Naruto said, "tell Gaara and Kankuro and I said 'hi' when you get back!"

"Why don't you tell them?" she asked. "They'll be here soon."

"Wait, Gaara is here?" Naruto repeated. "But he's Kazekage!"

"Yeah, well, not yet. He kinda snuck out." Temari admitted. "Kankuro talked him into it, but I guess since it's Christmas, it's alright."

The party was pretty great, and soon it was time for presents. Naruto found himself sitting by a fire with Sakura, each of them holding a colorfully wrapped gift. Naruto knew his face was red, but he didn't care. Being here with Sakura, even if she only wanted to be friends, it was great. Naruto held out his gift to her. "No," Sakura said, shaking her head. A feeling of disappointment spread over him. "Open mine first," she added, making the feeling fade away, replaced with relief. He took it, and tore off the paper. He opened the box, and inside was... empty. He looked up, but before he could say anything he felt Sakura pressing against him, her lips connecting with his. Their lips remained locked for a moment, a moment that Naruto wished would last forever. When their kiss finally broke, Sakura grinned, looking embarrassed in a cute little way. "Merry Christmas, Naruto-kun." she whispered softly.

Naruto was speechless, his mouth in a continuous grin. He realized that he'd been holding her hand since their kiss started, her skin was soft. "I couldn't think of any gift that could say what I wanted to say," Sakura told him, "nothing I could buy could tell you how I feel. But I realized, a kiss could say it all."

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto murmured. "I don't think any present in the world could top that one. Why'd you hafta go first?" he joked. His voice was a little shaky, still in shock from the kiss. He handed her his gift in its bright blue paper.

She tore it open, looking up at him frequently as she did so. She opened the large box under the paper, only to find another box inside it. This box was obviously a jewelry box. She opened it, and her eyes sparkled, she looked up at him with a grin. Taking the bracelet out of the box she said, "Naruto, it's beautiful."

Sakura put her arms around him in a hug of gratitude. Before she pulled away, she kissed his cheek softly, squeezing his hand tightly. "Thank you." she said.


End file.
